Nghe An: Many difficulties in implementing social distancing in schools

Social distancing classroom at Nguyen Sy Sach High School - Thanh Chuong. Photo: Duc Anh

Regarding this issue, Nghe An Newspaper also recorded the opinions of schools:

Teacher Nguyen Hong Van - Principal of Hoa Sen Kindergarten - Vinh city

When we received the decision to welcome children back on May 4, we were very happy and in the past few days have implemented many activities to ensure the safety of children when going to school.

Photo: Duc Anh

We have also developed many plans to pick up children, including plans to pick up children at the school gate to ensure social distancing. However, there are difficulties in the implementation process, such as with children aged 3, 4, and 5, the children are conscious and cooperate with the teachers quite well. However, with children aged 24 - 36 months, because they have been home for more than 3 months, it is very difficult for them to return to the school routine. We are worried that currently each class only has 2 teachers and 1 teacher has to pick up children at the gate, so the remaining teacher in the class will have difficulty taking care of 20 - 30 children at the same time.

Social distancing for preschoolers is also quite difficult because they are too young and not yet aware of disease prevention and control. During school and recess, due to their age, they cannot avoid "hugging each other" and playing together.

Or like eating and sleeping at boarding schools, it is very difficult to keep children apart. Temporarily, we will use both classrooms and bedrooms to rearrange the beds for the children to properly practice social distancing according to regulations.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Tam - Principal of Nam Linh Primary School - Nam Dan:

To welcome students back to school, we have strictly followed the instructions of all levels, especially Decision 285 of the Department of Education and Training promulgating a set of criteria for safe schools in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic.

Photo: Duc Anh

In the criteria, the important task is to distance students and currently we will arrange for grades 3, 4, 5 to study in the morning and grades 1, 2 to study in the afternoon. Thus, the number of students will be spread out in the school yard. In the classroom, we make the most of the space to distance tables and chairs and at least 2 students should be 1 meter apart.

However, because the classroom is not spacious, it is difficult to space the desks and chairs based on the number of students per class, and if the requirement is over 1m, the class must be divided. However, with this plan, it will be difficult to arrange for teachers to have extra periods or extra periods in the payment regime. For now, we are just trying to space the desks and chairs in the room and keep the class intact.

Teacher Le Tuan Anh - Physical Education Teacher, Nam Linh Secondary School - Nam Dan

During the first week of school and following Government Directive 19 on social distancing, our school has been social distancing as instructed.

Photo: My Ha

However, it is difficult for my department to implement social distancing for students. Currently, we are implementing 3 subjects: jumping, throwing ball and endurance running. All 3 subjects require students to sit and rest after the recovery period, and it is very difficult to implement social distancing at this time. In fact, the nature of physical education makes it impossible to implement social distancing from the beginning to the end of the lesson, even though we often remind students.

Physical education class at Nam Linh Secondary School - Nam Dan. Photo: My Ha

We are really worried about these developments, but PE is an outdoor subject, a crowded subject, so it is difficult and impossible to separate students. This is similar to subjects that require group study, so students must study in groups. Therefore, in my opinion, social distancing can only be limited to the maximum extent, but cannot be absolutely followed according to regulations.

Teacher Nguyen Khac Diep - Principal of Nguyen Sy Sach High School - Thanh Chuong:

Implementing the 10 criteria of the Department of Education and Training, we self-assessed that the school had done well in 9 criteria. The remaining one criterion we found quite difficult was the criterion on social distancing.

Photo: Duc Anh

Currently, our school has 5 classes with over 40 students, including a class with 45 students, we have arranged for them to study in the council room. The rest of the classes still study as usual and the school is dividing the students into 2 shifts to spread out the number of students in each session.

With the solutions that the education sector has proposed, I think the solution of adding more desks and chairs in each classroom is appropriate. However, this is only suitable for classes with less than 40 students. Classes with more than 40 students are difficult to achieve because on average each classroom can only have 12 desks and chairs. If the classes are divided into classes, this is very complicated because of the lack of teachers and also related to the regime for teachers when teaching overtime. In fact, if teachers are encouraged, everyone can complete the task but it affects the psychology of the students.

Previously, Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training also said: To distance students, schools can form new classes by dividing the number of students in half. However, this will lead to psychological problems for both students and parents.

In addition, there are also difficulties such as having to establish new monitoring and evaluation scorebooks and then transfer them back to the old class at the end of the school year. In addition, the division of classes and establishment of new classes by grade level in high school is quite complicated because students do not study equally among grades.

The most difficult thing is the budget because according to calculations, if each district divides the average class, the internal payment for teachers alone is 20 million VND/district. That means the daily payment in the whole province is over 500 million VND (including high schools) and if extended until mid-July, it will be about 30 billion VND. Meanwhile, with the current difficult conditions of the state, there is no budget to compensate. We are currently calling on the whole industry, during the time of fighting the epidemic, "each person must work twice as hard", in the spirit of serving the community.